Multiple tooth impaction in the young adult

Published: September 2016

Bulletin
#58 September 2016

Multiple tooth impaction in the young
adult

Possibly the single most important attribute of teeth is
that they normally erupt into the oral environment by themselves, without
outside assistance. Nevertheless, failure of the teeth to erupt is not uncommon
and is due to failure of one or more of the various mechanisms, intrinsic and
extrinsic factors that control eruption. This provides justification for a
website dedicated to the many aspects of the problem.

Under normal circumstances, what determines when eruption
should occur is the stage of the calcification and development of the teeth and
it is well documented that a tooth will be spurred on to its greatest eruption
potential when one half to two thirds of its final root length will have been reached.1-4
A
tooth with a fully apexified root end will generally exhibit a much reduced or
absent eruptive potential. At the opposite end of the scale, the potential for eruption
of a tooth with less than half its root and a wide open apex, will also be
limited.5 In these cases, therefore, the orthodontic preparation of
space within the affected dental arch, alone, may well not result in eruption.

It should be added,
in relation to unerupted teeth with markedly underdeveloped roots, that
premature surgical exposure may damage further root development and,
additionally, may rob the tooth of the physiologic process of enamel maturation.6
These well-known characteristics are among the factors to be considered
when evaluating the timing of an orthodontic intervention aimed at mechanically
assisting eruption.7

In the present bulletin, we shall discuss 2 cases in which
the patients were young adults, each with multiple impacted teeth in the
canine/premolar areas bilaterally in both jaws. In both cases, the ideal timing
for orthodontic treatment had passed several years earlier, as demonstrated by
the full apexification of all the impacted teeth. However, the attitude and the
approach to treatment of the practitioners concerned could not have been more
different.

My interest in this particular area of orthodontics, both in
clinical work and in teaching, is well known in my country and it manifests
itself in my private practice becoming the depository for all those cases that
are considered “impossible” and which almost nobody else is prepared or knows
how to treat. Close to half my patient load is made up of individuals with
impacted teeth of one sort or another. As
the natural consequence of this, I also have radiographs and CT’s of a wide
variety of clinical oddities sent to me, simply for the “Wow factor” and with
the added notation “….. I’ll bet you have never seen anything like this!” In
the spirit of the recently finished Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, I have no
doubt that I could justify a claim for a world record in this regard. Some of
these films I use as illustrative material in my lectures and some in my
textbook and journal publications – always acknowledging the courtesy of the
source. The first case reported here is an example taken from this group of
patients, and while the 2 cases share many common clinical features, the approach
of the practitioner to treatment in the second case was diametrically opposed to
that taken in the first and, accordingly, their outcomes and prognoses were strikingly
disparate.

Case 1 – an orthodontic/surgical approach

Fig. 1. Panoramic view of the dentition in July 2010, at
age 15 years. Note that all premolars, canines and mandibular second molars are
unerupted, despite full closure of their root apices.

The first case was a young female aged 16 years, who had
been entirely unaware that she still had many over-retained deciduous teeth in
her mouth until her dentist brought it to her attention and had discussed the
need for treatment. She was a normal, healthy and non-syndromic individual. At
the time, July 2010, her erupted dentition comprised only the permanent
incisors and the first permanent molars, together with the full complement of
deciduous canines and molars. A panoramic radiograph revealed unerupted
permanent canines, premolars and second molars in the mouth – 12 teeth in all, with
fully closed root apices (Fig. 1).

Fig. 2. Panoramic view 17 months later in December 2011,
shortly before commencement of treatment.

The unerupted third molars were at a very
early stage of development. The general dental practitioner referred the
patient to an oral and maxillo-facial surgeon for advice and for extraction of
the deciduous teeth, two of which he had extracted beforehand (Fig. 2). As a
first step, the oral and maxillo-facial surgeon referred the patient on to me
for an orthodontic evaluation, although much time was wasted by the patient, due
to social, geographical, educational and motivational issues. The surgeon and I
considered that although one or two of the premolars might erupt as the result
of extraction of the deciduous teeth, we agreed thatthis could take a very long
time, in view of the closed apices and thatthis would not provide a solution for the canines, in view of their extreme displacement. Furthermore, orthodontic appliances
would be needed to treat the overall malocclusion and for the traction and
alignment of the 4 difficult canines. It was argued that proactive premolar traction
and alignment would significantly reduce treatment time, enhance efficiency and
achieve a superior result.

Pre-treatment records were taken in November 2011, although
appliances were only placed in March 2012, when the patient was almost 18 years
of age, about to leave school and about to be drafted into the army to commence
her 2 years of compulsory national service. At this time, the mandibular right
second premolar had erupted. There were also positive signs also of right
maxillary premolar eruption, more than 2 years after the deciduous teeth had
been extracted. All four canines and four of the remaining unerupted premolars
were displaced deep into basal bone. The left mandibular second premolar had
developed a 900distally-pointing root apex dilaceration.

Fig. 3. Intra-oral views of the teeth in occlusion on the
day the fixed appliances were placed. Brackets are present on all deciduous and
permanent teeth in the mandible and a Nickel-Titanium round leveling archwire
is in place. Brackets were placed only on the incisors in the maxilla and the
modified Johnson twin wire arch is tailored to be totally passive in the
incisor region. Note the rigid round buccal “tube-within-a-tube” slotted into
the round molar tubes. See text for explanation.

Fig. 4. Occlusal views of the dentition with deciduous
teeth labeled. Note the presence of soldered lingual arches in both jaws. The
list of surgical aims is detailed on the right side.

The appliances consisted of molar bands with soldered
lingual arches in both jaws and Tip-Edge Plus brackets (TP Orthodontics,
LaPorte, Indiana) on the permanent incisors in both jaws. In the maxilla,
brackets were only placed on the incisors and, in order to circumvent the
potential problems associated with long unsupported spans between first molars
and lateral incisors, a modified Johnson twin wire combination archwire was
placed (Figs. 3, 4).8 No attempt was made to align the maxillary
incisors because of the close proximity of the canine to the incisor roots and
the possibility that this would cause root resorption. The anterior portion of
the combination archwire was tailored to provide the required passive
engagement of the incisor teeth with posterior supporting rigidity, suitable as
a platform from which extrusive forces could be mounted. In the mandible, brackets were also placed on
all 5 over-retained mandibular deciduous teeth, to provide a similar degree of
stability for the initial leveling and aligning archwires. Once anterior
alignment and leveling were completed in the mandibular arch, a heavy 0.020”
round base arch was substituted.

Fig. 5. Surgery performed by Prof. Refael Zeltser in
November 2012. Intra-oral views of the labial approach to exposure of the right
mandibular canine (a), the left mandibular canine andpremolars (b) and the left maxillary canine
and premolars. Note small bonded eyelets with their braided soft steel ligature
connectors.

Fig. 6. With the full surgical flaps re-sutured into
their former places, the braided steel ligatures are turned over the 0.018”
round archwires under mild extrusive tension, prior to the patient leaving the
operating theater.

Fig. 7. The right maxillary canine was palatally
displaced and very high up on the root of the lateral incisor. The connector
wire may be seen exiting the middle of the resutured flap, close to the
soldered palatal arch (arrow). The original intention had been to draw the
tooth down into the palate, to clear the incisor root, once the other premolars
and canines were in place. See text for explanation.

Surgical exposure of the unerupted premolars and canines was
performed in all four quadrants simultaneously under general anesthesia in the
operating theater of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, in
November 2012. The surgeon removed only a portion of the dental follicle
surrounding the crown of each tooth, steering well clear of the CEJ. He
maintained hemostasis while I bonded the small eyelets in the optimal available
location on the enamel surface of each of the 9 unerupted teeth concerned. A
closed exposure procedure was used, due to the extreme depth of several of the
teeth (Figs. 5-7). The re-approximated edges of the replaced soft tissue
surgical flaps were re-sutured leaving only the braided steel ligatures visible
(Fig. 6). The maxillary right premolars had partially erupted at the time, but
these were nevertheless further exposed to their maximum circumference and were
left uncovered to erupt spontaneously.

Due to its very high but palatal location, the right
maxillary canine was exposed in the palate and its twisted steel ligature was
brought through the palatal flap to lie passively curled on the palatal mucosa
(Fig. 7). Initially, it was not possible to apply a palato-vertical force9
on the palatal side because there were too few erupted teeth to stabilize an
auxiliary spring mechanism and this tooth was left until a later stage in the
treatment, when the other impacted teeth would be aligned and could serve as
supports.

Fig. 8. 1-day post-surgery panoramic view, November 2012.

The braided ligatures that were threaded through the eyelets
bonded to the other teeth were shortened and rolled into short helices at the
point where they emerged through the sutured edges of the flaps and, in the
absence of brackets in these posterior areas, the light archwires were threaded
through these helices to provide vertical traction (Fig. 6, 8). Tension was then
progressively renewed by rolling the helices towards the gingivae, as they
became more protruded with the eruptive progress. Once the teeth had erupted
adequately, Tip-Edge brackets were placed on them to rotate, upright and torque
as needed and to complete the finer artistic finishing.

Fig. 9a. Surgeryin December 2013 performed by Dr. Harvey Samen. The right maxillary
canine has autonomously migrated and becomes very palpable on the labial side
following eruption and alignment of the adjacent teeth.

Fig. 9b. At re-exposure, the original attachment can be
seen on the lingual side of the canine.

Fig. 9c. A labial attachment is substituted.

When the premolar teeth
erupted in the right maxillary quadrant, the braided ligature that belonged to
the right canine had disappeared into the soft tissue of the palatal mucosa.
The tooth became more and more palpable on the labial side in the succeeding
months (Fig. 9a), illustrating a spontaneous response of the tooth to the
environmental change produced by increasing the space. Thus a second surgical
exposure of this tooth became necessary and it was carried out with a closed labial
approach (Fig. 9b, c).

During the entire period that extrusive forces were being
applied to the impacted teeth, the patient was instructed to wear vertical
“up-and-down” elastics to reinforce the anchorage of the molar and incisor teeth.
It will be readily understood that the extrusive forces in the maxilla are
directed vertically downward, while in the mandible they are vertically upward.
Thus, it is logical to pit the two opposing force vectors against one another,
by harnessing the one to the other and making the extrusive forces of the one
jaw provide the anchor base for the extrusive forces of the other.

Fig. 10. The open bite created by the reactive force on the anchor teeth by the multiple extrusive forces on the impacted teeth and due to non-compliance with vertical up-and-down elastics.

However, the patient was almost totally non-compliant
with this efficacious biomechanical concept for many months, with the result
that a considerable anterior open bite developed (Fig. 10). Only when the all
the teeth had come into the line of the arches did the patient begin to
cooperate, albeit under considerable duress. In line with her negative attitude
throughout the 29 months of mechanotherapy, treatment was terminated prematurely
due to patient and parental pressure, before adequate torque and uprighting had
been completed, particularly in relation to the maxillary canines. Nevertheless, a satisfactory result was
achieved post-treatment (Figs. 11-13).

Fig. 11. Panoramic view on day of appliance removal,
September 2014.

Fig. 12. Intra-oral views of the dentition in August
2016, 2 years after completion of all treatment.

Fig. 13. The smile at 2 years post-treatment, showing
good alignment and an esthetic smile line.

A braided
wire splint was bonded lingually from canine-to-canine in both jaws on the day
the orthodontic appliances were removed. These were prepared from superhard
flexible 5-strand wire formed on a plaster cast of the teeth and using a labial
acrylic positioning jig, as we have described elsewhere.10

Case 2 – a prosthodontic/endodontic/surgical approach

I guess that it is not everyone who is prepared to wear
braces and undergo extensive alveolar surgery as integral parts of treatment
that extends over a 29 months period. Many will look for the “quick fix”…… and
sometimes there is one. More likely, however, there is no quick fix. The patient may well seek a dentist prepared
to succumb to his demands and conditions. Whether the practitioner is prepared
to throw caution and ethics to the wind by permitting him/herself to being conned
into treating the patient to make the “fast buck”. is another matter.

It is quite remarkable how similar the 2 cases in this bulletin
must have been, before “treatment” was instituted.

I never saw the patient who is presented here, nor can I guarantee
that the panoramic view has not been photoshopped, although I believe this to
be highly unlikely, if not impossible to achieve in this case. To concoct a
picture like this would require the evil mind of a dentally-educated but highly
mischievous person. The film was sent to me as a “double WOW factor” case by a
former graduate student of mine who came across it serendipitously, with the now
familiar mantra “….. I’ll bet you have never seen anything like this!” I hasten
to add that he was not the treating dentist!

Fig. 14. Case 2 (courtesy of Dr. Elisha Reichenberg).

If we study the panoramic film carefully (Fig. 14), we
should be able to discern the following features:-

1.Judging by the closed
apices of both erupted and unerupted teeth, probably including the stunted
roots of the 2 third molars, the patient is at least 18 years of age, but could
be considerably older.

2.In the mandible and aside
from the left third molar, there are 2 unerupted canines and 4 unerupted
premolars.

3.On the right side of the
maxilla, the second premolar is erupted, but the canine and first premolar are
impacted, with a markedly infraoccluded deciduous first molar directly in the
eruption path of the premolar. The third molar is also unerupted.

4.On the left side of the
maxilla, there is an impacted canine. There is also a large area where the
alveolar bone is missing, which one may be permitted to assume is the result of
an earlier and very radical and damaging surgical attempt to remove similarly
impacted premolars.

5.Apart from the left
maxillary premolars, the right maxillary lateral incisor and the left
mandibular central incisor are also absent.

6.The mandibular incisor has
been replaced with an implant, which has failed and all bone support has given
way to a broad periodontal/osseous lesion, in the immediate area.

7.All the erupted permanent
teeth have been endodontically treated, most probably as elective procedures to
provide maximum retention for them to serve as abutments for the “ear-to-ear”
prosthodontic rehabilitation.

8.2 deciduous canines and 2
deciduous molar (on the right side) in the mandible have also been included as
abutment teeth for the reconstruction, despite the fact that there is precious
little left of their resorbed roots and what remains appears to be
periodontally involved.

I have titled this film “Bridge over troubled waters” (with
apology to Simon and Garfunkle) because the corono-ponto-prosthodontic
construction has been superstructured over a veritable Pandora’s box of
impacted permanent and deciduous teeth in various states of deterioration,
decay and putrefaction, with and without root canal treatment, any one of which
portends potential major disaster…… for which I shudder to think how much the
patient was charged!

Further comment or discussion of this case is superfluous,
although I would expect the horror represented by this film to “go viral”.